Non-volatile semiconductor memory devices

ABSTRACT

A non-volatile memory device includes a tunneling insulating layer on a semiconductor substrate, a charge storage layer, a blocking insulating layer, and a gate electrode. The charge storage layer is on the tunnel insulating layer and has a smaller band gap than the tunnel insulating layer and has a greater band gap than the semiconductor substrate. The blocking insulating layer is on the charge storage layer and has a greater band gap than the charge storage layer and has a smaller band gap than the tunnel insulating layer. The gate electrode is on the blocking insulating layer.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/823,397, filed on Jun. 27, 2007, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/795,537, filed Mar. 8, 2004, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/184,328, filed Jun. 27, 2002, and which is related to and claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 2003-26776, filed on Apr. 28, 2003, from Korean Patent Application No. 2002-05622, filed on Jan. 31, 2002, and from Korean Patent Application No. 2001-37421, filed on Jun. 28, 2001, the contents of each of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a non-volatile memory devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Two types of non-volatile memory devices are floating gate type memory devices and floating trap type memory devices. A floating gate type memory device may include a control gate and a conductive floating gate that is isolated, by an insulating layer, from a substrate channel. Floating gate type memory devices may be programmed by storing charges as free carriers on the conductive floating gate.

Floating trap type memory devices may include a non-conductive charge storage layer between a gate electrode and a substrate. Floating trap type memory devices may be programmed by storing charges in traps in the non-conductive charge storage layer.

Floating gate type memory devices generally have a thicker tunneling insulating layer than floating trap type memory devices to provide comparable reliability for storing charges. A thicker tunneling insulating layer may result in an increased operating voltage for the memory device and an increased complexity of associated peripheral circuitry. Consequently, it may be more difficult to provide high integration density and low power consumption for floating gate type memory devices than for floating trap type memory devices.

A SONOS (silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-semiconductor) structure of a conventional floating trap type unit memory device is shown in FIG. 1. The memory device includes a tunneling insulating layer 20, a charge storage layer 22, a blocking insulating layer 24, and a gate electrode 27 that are sequentially stacked on an active region of a P-type semiconductor substrate 10. An N⁺ type impurity diffusion layer 28 is formed at an active region on opposite sides of the gate electrode 27. The tunneling insulating layer 20 may include a thermal oxide material and the charge storage layer 22 may include silicon nitride material.

An energy band diagram of a floating trap type unit memory device is shown in FIG. 2, taken along a line I-I′ of FIG. 1. Intrinsic energy band gaps are shown for the materials corresponding to the semiconductor substrate 10, the tunneling insulating layer 20, the charge storage layer 22, the blocking insulating layer 24, and the gate electrode 27. Differences between the energy band gaps may result in potential barriers at the interfaces between the materials.

For example, the charge storage layer 22 can include silicon nitride which has an energy band gap of about 5 eV. The corresponding potential barriers between the tunneling insulating layer 20 and the charge storage layer 22 may be about 1 eV and 2 eV, respectively, for the conduction band and the valence band.

A silicon nitride layer is known to have three trap levels. A trap center of the silicon nitride layer includes a silicon atom that combines with three nitrogen atoms and has one dangling bond. When no electron combines with the dangling bond (i.e., a hole combines therewith), the state may be called a first trap level E₁. When one electron combines with the dangling bond, the state may be called a second trap level E₂, which is higher than the first trap level E₁. When two electrons combine with the dangling bond, the state may be called a third trap level E₃, which is higher than the second trap level E₂.

A floating trap type non-volatile memory device uses trap levels, such as those found in a silicon nitride layer, for memory operations. When a positive voltage is applied on the gate electrode 27, electrons are tunneled via the tunneling insulating layer 20 to become trapped in the charge storage layer 22. As the electrons are accumulated in the charge storage layer 22, a threshold voltage of the memory device is increased, and the memory device becomes programmed.

In contrast, when a negative voltage is applied to the gate electrode 27 as shown in FIG. 3, trapped electrons are discharged to the semiconductor substrate 10 via the tunneling insulating layer 20. Concurrently, holes become trapped in the first trap level E₁ from the semiconductor substrate 10 by the tunneling insulating layer 20. Consequently, the threshold voltage of the unit memory device is decreased, and the memory device becomes erased.

For the memory device to be programmed, the quantity of charges from the channel should be relatively greater than the quantity of charges from the gate electrode. For example, when a positive voltage is applied to the gate electrode, if the quantity of holes provided from the gate electrode to the floating trap is equal to the quantity of electrons provided from the channel to the floating trap, negative charges are offset by positive charges and vice versa. Accordingly, the threshold voltage is not changed and programming may be precluded.

When the thickness of the silicon oxide layer, serving as a tunneling oxide layer, is 20 Å or less, current flow from direct tunneling may exceed current flow from F-N tunneling and an erase operation may occur. When a blocking oxide layer has a thickness of about 50 Å, charge may be primarily moved by F-N tunneling and the quantity of charges from the channel may be greater than the quantity of charges from the gate electrode. In contrast, when the thickness of the tunneling insulating layer is 20 Å or less and the blocking insulating layer is thicker than the tunneling insulating layer, charges may be primarily provided from the channel in erase and program operations, and the threshold voltage may be more easily controlled.

The thickness of the silicon oxide layer may affect the data retention time of the memory device. For example, when the thickness of the silicon oxide layer is 20 Å or less, charges stored in the floating trap may leak more easily and the data retention time of the memory device may be shortened. When the thickness of the silicon oxide layer is 20 Å or higher, the data retention time may be increased but the primary flow of charges to the floating trap may be by F-N tunneling. F-N tunneling may be more easily carried out as the effective mass of charge carriers becomes smaller and the electric field on the charge carrier path becomes stronger.

Conventional operations for programming and erasing a floating trap type memory device will now be described. During an early phase of a programming operation, when the tunneling insulating layer and the blocking insulating layer are oxide materials and a voltage is applied to the gate electrode, the generated electric field can be described by Equation 1 below.

$\begin{matrix} {{Eot} = {{Eob} = \frac{{Vg} - {\Phi \; {ms}} - {2\; \Phi \; b}}{{Xot} + \frac{ɛ({ot})}{ɛ({SIN})} + {Xob}}}} & {{{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 1}\;} \end{matrix}$

The symbols “ot”, “ob”, and “SIN” represent the tunneling insulating layer, the blocking insulating layer, and the silicon nitride layer, respectively. The symbol “E” represents the electric field, “Vg” represents the voltage of a gate electrode, “Φms” represents a difference of a work function between the substrate and the gate electrode, “Φb” represents a substrate surface potential, “X” represents a thickness of the oxide layer, and “∈” represents a dielectric constant.

During the early phase of the programming operation, when a positive voltage is applied to the gate electrode, a hole is moved from the gate electrode to the floating trap and an electron is moved from the channel to the floating trap. When more electrons are provided to the gate electrode than holes, the threshold voltage is increased. As electrons become trapped in the floating trap of the charge storage layer and accumulate therein, the electric field applied to the blocking insulating layer may become stronger than the electric field applied to the tunneling insulating layer. Once stronger, trapped electrons become increasingly discharged via the blocking insulating layer, or holes become increasing injected from the gate electrode, so that growth of the threshold voltage becomes limited.

During an erasing operation, when a relatively lower voltage is applied to the gate electrode, electrons move by F-N tunneling from the gate electrode to the floating trap and holes move from the channel to the floating trap. Because the effective mass of electrons is lower than that of holes, electrons more easily flow from the gate electrode than holes from the channel. In an early phase of the erasing operation, when the floating trap of the silicon nitride layer (i.e., the charge storage layer) is uniformly filled with electrons, the quantity of charge, Q, may be negative. With a negative Q, the blocking insulating layer and the tunneling insulating layers can be described by Equations 2 and 3 below.

$\begin{matrix} {{Eot} = \frac{{Vg} - {\Phi \; {ms}} - {\Phi \; b} - {Q\left( {\frac{Xot}{ɛ({ob})} + \frac{Xn}{2\; {ɛ(n)}}} \right)}}{{Xot} + {{Xn}\frac{ɛ({ot})}{ɛ(n)}} + {Xob}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 2} \\ {{Eob} = {{Eot} + \frac{Q}{ɛ({ot})}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 3} \end{matrix}$

The symbols “ot”, “ob”, and “SIN” represent the tunneling insulating layer, the blocking insulating layer, and the silicon nitride layer, respectively. The symbol “E” represents an electric field, “Vg” represents a voltage of the gate electrode, “Φms” represents a difference of a work function between the substrate and the gate electrode, “Φb” represents a substrate surface potential, “X” represents a thickness of an oxide layer, and “Q” represents the quantity of charges at the silicon nitride layer.

When the thickness of the tunneling insulating layer is 20 Å or more, charges are moved at the tunneling insulating layer and the blocking insulating layer by F-N tunneling. During an erasing operation, the quantity of electrons provided from the gate electrode may exceed the quantity of holes provided from the channel and the floating trap can accumulate a negative charge, which may make it difficult to sufficiently decrease the threshold voltage to erase the memory.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Non-volatile memory devices according to some embodiments of the present invention include a semiconductor substrate, a tunneling insulating layer, a charge storage layer, a blocking insulating layer, and a gate electrode. The tunneling insulating layer is on the substrate and has a first dielectric constant. The charge storage layer is on the tunneling insulating layer. The blocking insulating layer is on the charge storage layer and has a second dielectric constant which is greater than the first dielectric constant of the tunneling insulting layer. The gate electrode is on the blocking insulating layer, and at least a portion of the gate electrode adjacent to the blocking insulating layer has a higher work-function than polysilicon. In some further embodiments of the present invention, the gate electrode comprises a stacked metal layer and a polysilicon layer. The metal layer has a higher work-function than the polysilicon layer.

Non-volatile memory devices according to some other embodiments of the present invention include a semiconductor substrate with a plurality of parallel active regions. A plurality of parallel memory gate electrodes intersect and pass over the active regions. Between the intersections of the electrodes and the active regions is a tunneling insulating layer having a first dielectric constant, a blocking insulating layer having a second dielectric constant that is greater than the first dielectric constant, and a charge storage layer. Portions of the memory gate electrodes adjacent to the blocking insulating layers have a higher work-function than polysilicon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a SONOS (silicon oxide nitride oxide semiconductor) structure of a conventional floating trap type unit memory device.

FIG. 2 is an energy band diagram of a conventional floating trap type unit memory device taken along a line of I-I′ in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an energy band diagram of an energy band and carrier flow when a voltage is applied to a gate electrode of a conventional memory device, such as that shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an energy band diagram of a floating trap type memory device according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an energy band diagram of a floating trap type memory device according to additional embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an energy band diagram of a floating trap type memory device according to additional embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an energy band diagram of a floating trap type memory device according to additional embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a memory device according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view along a bit line of a memory device, such as the memory device of FIG. 8, according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view along a bit line of a memory device, such as the memory device of FIG. 8, according to additional embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an energy band diagram of a floating trap type memory device according to some additional embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an energy band diagram of a floating trap type memory device according to some additional embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of a floating gate type non-volatile memory device according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of a non-volatile memory device with a nanocrystalline layer according to some embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the thickness of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity. It will also be understood that when a layer is referred to as being “on” another layer or substrate, it can be directly on the other layer or substrate, or intervening layers may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on” another element, there are no intervening elements present.

An energy band diagram of a floating trap type memory device according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4. The floating trap type memory device, as represented in the memory band diagram, may include a substrate 10, a tunneling insulating layer 20, a charge storage layer 22, a dielectric layer 34, and a gate electrode 27. The dielectric layer 34 may serve as a blocking insulating layer. Early in a programming operation of the memory device, electric field intensities of the tunneling insulating layer 20 and the blocking insulating layer 34 may be described by Equations 4 and 5 below.

$\begin{matrix} {{Eot} = \frac{{Vg} - {\Phi \; {ms}} - {2\; \Phi \; b}}{{Xot} + {{Xn}\frac{ɛ({ot})}{ɛ(n)}} + {{Xob}\frac{ɛ({ot})}{ɛ({ob})}}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 4} \\ {{Eob} = {{Eot}\frac{ɛ({ot})}{ɛ({ob})}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 5} \end{matrix}$

The symbols “ot”, “ob”, and “n” represent the tunneling insulating layer 20, the blocking insulating layer 34, and the charge storage layer 22, respectively. The symbol “E” represents an electric field, “Vg” represents a voltage of the gate electrode 27, “Φms” represents a difference of a work function between the substrate 10 and the gate electrode 27, “Φb” represents a substrate surface potential, “X” represents a thickness of an oxide layer, and “∈” represents a dielectric constant.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, a dielectric constant of the dielectric layer 34 may be higher than a dielectric constant of the tunneling insulating layer 20. A higher dielectric constant for the dielectric layer 34 may provide a higher electric field intensity for the tunneling insulating layer 20 than for the dielectric layer 34 (See Equation 5). When programming such a memory device, electrons may be more easily injected via the tunneling insulating layer 20 and a higher quantity of electrons may flow from the channel than from the gate electrode 27. A result may be faster programming of the memory device.

Referring to Equations 4 and 1, during programming of a floating trap type memory device according to embodiments of the present invention an electric field in the tunneling oxide layer 20 (hereinafter referred to as “EF_(P)”) may be stronger than an electric field in the tunneling oxide layer 20 (hereinafter referred to as “EF_(C)”). When “EFc” is positive, a positive result may be obtained when “EF_(P)” is subtracted from “EF_(C)”, as shown by Equation 6.

$\begin{matrix} {{\Delta \; {Eot}} = \frac{\left( {{Vg} - {\Phi \; {ms}} - {2\; \Phi \; b}} \right)\left( {1 - \frac{ɛ({ot})}{ɛ({ob})}} \right){Xob}}{\left( {{Xot} + {{Xn}\frac{ɛ({ot})}{ɛ(n)}} + {Xob}} \right)\left( {{Xot} + {{Xn}\frac{ɛ({ot})}{ɛ(n)}} + {X\frac{ɛ({ot})}{ɛ({ob})}}} \right)}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 6} \right\rbrack \end{matrix}$

The symbol “∈(ob)” represents a high dielectric constant of the dielectric layer 34. The high dielectric constant may provide a faster program operation of the memory relative to an equivalent voltage applied to a conventional memory device such as shown in FIG. 2.

The relationship of the electric fields strengths of the tunneling insulating layer 20 to the dielectric layer 34 during an erase operation may be described by Equations 7 and 8 below.

$\begin{matrix} {{Eot} = \frac{{Vg} - {\Phi \; {ms}} - {\Phi \; b} - {Q\left( {\frac{Xot}{ɛ({ob})} + \frac{Xn}{2\; {ɛ(n)}}} \right)}}{{Xot} + {{Xn}\frac{ɛ({ot})}{ɛ(n)}} + {{Xob}\frac{ɛ\left( {ot} \right.}{ɛ({ob})}}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 7} \\ {{Eob} = {\left( {{Eot} + \frac{Q}{ɛ({ot})}} \right)\frac{ɛ({ot})}{ɛ({ob})}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 8} \end{matrix}$

The symbol “Q” represents a quantity of charges in the charge storage layer 22 and has a negative value, “∈(ob)” represents a dielectric constant of a dielectric layer 34, and “∈(ot)” represents a dielectric constant of the tunneling insulating layer 20.

When “∈(ob)” is sufficiently larger than “∈(ot)”, the electric field of the tunneling insulating layer 20 may become stronger than the electric field of the dielectric layer 34. The change in the charge quantity caused by a charge carrier movement via the tunneling insulating layer 20 (i.e., inflow of channel holes and outflow of electrons from the charge storage layer 22) may be larger than the change in the charge quantity caused by a charge carrier movement via the dielectric layer 34 (i.e., inflow of electrons from the gate electrode 27). In such a case, the threshold voltage may be more easily decreased by the inflow of channel holes at the charge storage layer 22 and an erase operation may be more easily performed.

During an erase operation, the electric field applied to the tunneling insulating layer 20 of the memory device of FIG. 4 may be stronger than the electric field applied to a tunneling insulating layer 20 of the memory device of FIG. 2, as may be shown for example by Equation 6. In this manner, the speed of the erase operation may be increased.

Referring to FIG. 5, a memory device according to additional embodiments of the present invention is shown. The memory device includes a semiconductor substrate 10, a tunneling insulating layer 20, a charge storage layer 22, a blocking insulating layer 44, and a gate electrode 27. The blocking insulating layer 44 may include a dielectric layer 34 and a silicon oxide layer 36 between the charge storage layer 22 and the gate electrode 27. More particularly, the silicon oxide layer 36 can be between the dielectric layer 34 and the gate electrode 27.

Referring to FIG. 6, a memory device according to additional embodiments of the present invention is shown. The memory device includes a semiconductor substrate 10, a tunneling insulating layer 20, a charge storage layer 22, a blocking insulating layer 54, and a gate electrode 27. The blocking insulating layer 54 includes a dielectric layer 34, having a high dielectric constant, and a silicon oxide layer 38 between the charge storage layer 22 and the gate electrode 27. More particularly, the dielectric layer 34 can be between the silicon oxide layer 38 and the gate electrode 27.

Referring to FIG. 7, a memory device according to additional embodiments of the present invention is shown. The memory device includes a semiconductor substrate 10, a tunneling insulating layer 20, a charge storage layer 22, a blocking insulating layer 64, and a gate electrode 27 disposed sequentially. The blocking insulating layer 64 includes a first silicon oxide layer 36 between a high dielectric layer 34 and a gate electrode 27 and a second silicon oxide layer 38 between the high dielectric layer 34 and the charge storage layer 22.

Equations 4 through 7 may describe the respective electric fields of the embodiments of the memory devices in FIGS. 4-7. For example, in the embodiments of FIGS. 5-7, a constant “∈(ob)” of the blocking insulating layers may be related to the constants of the dielectric layers and the oxide layer of the blocking insulating layers. When a blocking insulating layer of these embodiments has the same thickness as the blocking insulating layer of the memory device of FIG. 2, the electric field may become dependent upon the dielectric constant and the thickness of the dielectric layer. The oxide layer of the blocking insulating layer may increase a breakdown voltage of the blocking insulating layer. The oxide layer may also enhance an adhesiveness between the high dielectric layer and the gate electrode or between the high dielectric layer and the charge storage layer.

According to additional embodiments of the present invention, the dielectric layer 34 may comprise metallic oxide or metallic oxynitride of a group III element or group VB element in the Mendeleef Periodic Table. According to other embodiments, the dielectric layer 34 may comprise doped metal oxide or doped metal oxynitride in which metal oxide is doped with a group IV element in the Mendeleef Periodic Table. The group IV element may reduce leakage current from the memory device. The group IV element may be doped with a metal oxide of about 0.1-30 weight percent. The dielectric layer 34 may also comprise one of more of HfO₂, Al₂O₃, La₂O₃, Hf_(1-x)Al_(x)O_(y), Hf_(x)Si_(1-x)O₂, Hf—Si-oxynitride, ZrO₂, Zr_(x)Si_(1-x)O₂, Zr—Si-oxynitride, and combinations thereof.

The material Al₂O₃ has a dielectric constant of 10 and an energy band gap of 8.3 eV and the material ZrO₂ has a dielectric constant of 25 and an energy band gap of 8.3 eV. The dielectric layer 34 may also comprise one or more of AlO, Al₂O₃, Ta₂O₅, TiO₂, PZT[Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃], PbTiO₃, PbZrO₃, PZT[(Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O₃], PbO, SrTiO₃, BaTiO₃, V₂O₅, BST[(Ba,Sr)TiO₃], SBT(SrBi₂Ta₂O₉), Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂, and combinations thereof.

The charge storage layer 22 may comprise one or more of Si₃N₄, silicon oxynitride, silicon-rich oxide, and other ferroelectric materials.

Referring to FIGS. 8-10, memory devices according to additional embodiments of the invention are shown. A plurality of active regions ACT are disposed on a semiconductor substrate 10. The active regions ACTs are parallel with one another along one direction of the substrate 10. A common source line CSL crosses over the active regions ACT. Bitline plugs DC are connected to the respective active regions ACT and separated from the common source line CSL by a predetermined distance. The bitline plugs DCs are parallel to the common source line CSL.

A string selection gate electrode 117 s and a ground selection gate electrode 117 g are parallel with each other, and cross over the active regions ACTs between the common source line CSL and the bitline plugs DCs. The string selection gate electrode 117 s is adjacent to the bitline plugs DCs, and the ground selection gate electrode 117 g is adjacent to the common source line CSL.

Between the string selection gate electrode 117 s and the ground selection gate electrode 117 g, a plurality of memory gate electrodes 117 m cross over the active regions ACTs. The memory gate electrodes 117 m are parallel with one another. A tunneling insulating layer 110, a charge storage layer 112, and a blocking insulating layer 114 are sequentially stacked between the active regions ACTs and the memory gate electrodes 117 m. The tunneling insulating layer 110, the charge storage layer 112, and the blocking insulating layer 114 can comprise the same materials as previously described.

An impurity-doped region 102 is on opposite sides of the string selection gate electrode 117 s, the ground selection gate electrode 117 g, and the memory gate electrodes 117 m. The common source line CSL is connected to the respective impurity-doped region (source region) 102 s that is adjacent to the ground selection electrode 117 g. An interlayer insulating film 120 covers the surface of a semiconductor substrate including the gate electrodes 117 g, 117 m, and 117 s and the common source line CSL. The bitline plugs DCs are connected to impurity-doped regions (drain regions) 102 d adjacent to the string selection gate 117 s. A plurality of bitlines BLs are formed on the interlayer insulating film 120 to cross over the gate electrodes 117 g, 117 m, and 117 s. The bitlines BLs are electrically connected to the bitline plug DC.

Memory cells may be provided at intersections of the respective memory gate electrodes 117 m and the active regions ACTs. Selection transistors may be provided at intersections of the respective selection gates 117 s and 117 g and the respective active regions ACTs.

As shown in FIG. 9, the memory device may include a tunnel insulating layer 110, a charge storage layer 112, and a blocking insulating layer 114 sequentially stacked to be between the ground selection gate electrode 117 g and the string selection gate electrode 117 s and the active regions (ACTs of FIG. 8). A negative voltage may be applied to the ground selection gate electrode 117 g and the string selection gate electrode 117 s to lower the threshold voltage of the selection transistor during memory operations.

According to further embodiments, as shown in FIG. 10, the memory device can include a gate insulating layer 116 between each of the ground selection gate electrode 117 g and the string selection gate electrode 117 s and the active regions (ACTs of FIG. 8). The gate insulating layer 116 can comprise silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, or a combination thereof.

An energy band diagram of a floating trap type memory device according to additional embodiments of the present invention is shown in FIG. 11. The floating trap type memory device includes a substrate 10, a tunneling insulating layer 20, a charge storage layer 22, a blocking insulating layer (e.g., dielectric layer) 34, and a gate electrode 27, as was earlier described for the floating trap type memory device that is shown in FIG. 4. The floating trap type memory device that is shown in FIG. 11 differs from that shown in FIG. 4 in that a portion of the gate electrode 27 adjacent to the blocking insulating layer 34 has a higher work-function than polysilicon. The gate electrode 27 may be a metal layer. As shown in FIG. 11, the work-function (Φm) of the metal layer is higher than the work-function (Φsi) of the polysilicon layer.

Because the gate electrode 27 has a higher work-function (Φm) than the work-function (Φsi) of the polysilicon layer, a higher potential barrier may be provided between the blocking insulating layer 34 and the gate electrode 27. During an erase mode, while electrons in the charge storage layer 22 are tunneling through the tunneling insulating layer 20 into the substrate 10, electrons may tunnel through the blocking insulating layer 34 from the gate electrode 27 into the charge storage layer 22. The occurrence of tunneling though the blocking insulating layer 34 to the charge storage layer 22 may be reduced by increasing the potential barrier between the blocking insulating layer 34 and the gate electrode 27. The performance of the floating trap type memory device that is shown in FIG. 1 may thereby be increased during an erase mode relative to the floating trap type memory device that has a polysilicon gate electrode.

The metal layer of the gate electrode 27 may have a work-function of, for example, at least 4 eV. The metal layer may be, for example, Titanium (Ti), Titanium nitride (TIN), Tantalum nitride (TAN), Tantalum (Ta), Tungsten (W), Hafnium (Hf), Niobium (Nb), Molybdenum (Mo), Ruthenium dioxide (RuO₂), Molybdenum nitride (Mo₂N), Iridium (Ir), Platinum (Pt), Cobalt (Co), Chrome (Cr), Ruthenium monoxide (RuO), Titanium aluminide (Ti₃Al), Ti₂AlN, Palladium (Pd), Tungsten nitride (WNx), Tungsten silicide (WSi) and Nickel silicide (NiSi), and/or combinations thereof.

An energy band diagram of a floating trap type memory device according to additional embodiments of the present invention is shown in FIG. 12. As shown in FIG. 12, the gate electrode includes a stacked metal layer 27 and a polysilicon layer 27′. The work-function (Φm) of the metal layer 27 is higher than the work-function (Φsi) of the polysilicon layer 27′. Accordingly, a higher potential barrier is provided between the gate electrode layers 27 and 27′ and the blocking insulating layer 34. The potential barrier may increase the performance of the floating trap type memory device during an erase mode.

The gate electrodes that are shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 may be used in the floating trap type memory devices that are shown in FIGS. 5-10. Further, the gate electrodes and insulating layers that are shown in FIGS. 5-12 may be used in floating gate type memory devices and non-volatile memory devices with a nanocrystalline layer.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of a floating gate type non-volatile memory device according to some embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 13, the memory device includes a tunneling insulating layer 54, a floating gate 70, a blocking insulating layer 72 (i.e., an inter-gate dielectric layer), and a gate electrode that are sequentially stacked on an active region of a P-type semiconductor substrate 50. A portion of the gate electrode adjacent to the blocking insulating layer 72 has a higher work-function than polysilicon. The gate electrode may include a stacked metal layer 60 and a polysilicon layer 62. The work-function of the metal layer 60 is higher than the work-function of the polysilicon layer 62. An N⁺ type impurity diffusion layer 52 is formed at an active region on opposite sides of the gate electrode. The tunnel insulating layer 54 and the blocking insulating layer 72 may be same as that was earlier described for the floating trap type memory device that is shown in FIGS. 4-7.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of a non-volatile memory device with a silicon nanocrystalline layer according to some embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 14, the memory device includes a tunneling insulating layer 54, a floating gate 80, a blocking insulating layer 82, and a gate electrode that are sequentially stacked on an active region of a P-type semiconductor substrate 50. The floating gate 80 is formed as a silicon nanocrystalline layer. The nanocrystalline layer is used as conductive layer to replace with a polysilicon floating gate in FIG. 13. A portion of the gate electrode adjacent to the blocking insulating layer 82 has a higher work-function than polysilicon. The gate electrode may include a stacked metal layer 60 and a polysilicon layer 62. The work-function of the metal layer 60 is higher than the work-function of the polysilicon layer 62. An N⁺ type impurity diffusion layer 52 is formed at an active region on opposite sides of the gate electrode. The tunnel insulating layer 54 and the blocking insulating layer 72 may be the same as that was earlier described for the floating trap type memory device that is shown in FIGS. 4-7.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 

1. A non-volatile memory device comprising: a tunnel layer on an active region; a charge storage layer on the tunnel layer; a blocking layer on the charge storage layer, the blocking layer having a greater dielectric constant than the tunnel layer; and a gate on the blocking layer, wherein the tunnel layer is configured to allow charge to tunnel through by F-N tunneling and be moved in the charge storage layer.
 2. The memory device of claim 1, wherein the tunnel layer comprises an oxide.
 3. The memory device of claim 1, wherein the blocking layer comprises at least one of: 1) a metal oxide and/or a metal oxynitride doped with a group III element and/or a group VB element; and 2) a metal oxide and/or a metal oxynitride doped with a group IV element.
 4. The memory device of claim 1, wherein the gate comprises a gate material with a work function of at least about 4 eV adjacent to the blocking layer.
 5. The memory device of claim 4, wherein the gate material comprises at least one of titanium, titanium nitride, tantalum nitride, tantalum, tungsten, hafnium, niobium, molybdenum, ruthenium dioxide, molybdenum nitride, iridium, platinum, cobalt, chrome, ruthenium monoxide, titanium aluminum (Ti₃Al), Ti₂AlN, palladium, tungsten nitride (WN_(x)), tungsten silicide (WSi), and nickel silicide.
 6. The memory device of claim 4, wherein the gate further comprises a polysilicon layer that is on and extends across the gate material.
 7. The memory device of claim 1, wherein the tunnel layer and the blocking layer are configured so that a larger change in charge quantity is caused by charge movement through the tunnel layer than is caused by charge movement through the blocking layer.
 8. A non-volatile memory device comprising: a plurality of serially coupled memory cells, each of the memory cells comprising a cell gate insulating layer, the cell gate insulating layer comprising a tunnel layer on an active region, a charge storage layer on the tunnel layer, and a blocking layer on the charge storage layer; wherein the blocking layer has a greater dielectric constant than the tunnel layer, and wherein the tunnel layer is configured to allow charge to tunnel through by F-N tunneling for programming and/or erasing operation of the memory cell.
 9. The memory device of claim 8, wherein the tunnel layer comprises an oxide.
 10. The memory device of claim 8, wherein the blocking layer comprises at least one of: 1) a metal oxide and/or a metal oxynitride doped with a group III element and/or a group VB element; and 2) a metal oxide and/or a metal oxynitride doped with a group IV element.
 11. The memory device of claim 8, wherein the cell gate comprises a cell gate material with a work function of at least about 4 eV adjacent to the blocking layer.
 12. The memory device of claim 11, wherein the cell gate material comprises at least one of titanium, titanium nitride, tantalum nitride, tantalum, tungsten, hafnium, niobium, molybdenum, ruthenium dioxide, molybdenum nitride, iridium, platinum, cobalt, chrome, ruthenium monoxide, titanium aluminum (Ti₃Al), Ti₂AlN, palladium, tungsten nitride (WN_(x)), tungsten silicide (WSi), and nickel silicide.
 13. The memory device of claim 11, wherein the cell gate further comprises a polysilicon layer that is on an extends across the cell gate material.
 14. The memory device of claim 8, wherein the tunnel layer and the blocking layer are configured such that a larger change in charge quantity is caused by charge movement through the tunnel layer than is caused by charge movement through the blocking layer.
 15. The memory device of claim 8, further comprising a select transistor coupled to an end memory cell of the serially coupled memory cells, the select transistor including a select gate insulating layer and a select gate on the select gate insulating layer.
 16. The memory device of claim 15, wherein the select gate insulating layer comprises at least one of silicon oxide and silicon nitride, and the tunnel layer comprises an oxide.
 17. The memory device of claim 8, wherein the serially coupled memory cells have two oppositely located end memory cells, and further comprising a string select gate adjacent to the cell gate of one of the end memory cells and a ground select gate adjacent to the cell gate of the other one of the end memory cells, wherein the string select gate and the ground select gate extend parallel to each other.
 18. The memory device of claim 17, further comprising a string select gate insulating layer and a ground select gate insulating layer, and wherein both of the string select gate insulating layer and the ground select gate insulating layer comprise an oxide.
 19. The memory device of claim 17, further comprising a string select gate having a string select gate insulating layer, and a ground select gate having a ground select gate insulating layer, and wherein both of the string select gate insulating layer and ground select gate insulating layer comprise a same material as the cell gate insulating layer.
 20. The memory device of claim 17, further comprising: a bit line electrically connected to an impurity doped region adjacent to the string select gate; and a common source line electrically connected to an impurity doped region adjacent to the ground select gate.
 21. The memory device of claim 20, further comprising: a bit line plug interposed between the bit line and the impurity doped region adjacent to the string select gate; and the bit line electrically connected to the bit line plug.
 22. The memory device of claim 21, wherein the bit line plug and the common source line extend along the substrate parallel to each other.
 23. A non-volatile memory device comprising: a tunnel layer on an active region; a charge storage layer on the tunnel layer; a blocking layer on the charge storage layer, the blocking layer having a greater dielectric constant than the tunnel layer; and a gate on the blocking layer, wherein the combination of the active region, the tunnel layer, the charge storage layer, the blocking layer, and the gate form a transistor, and the tunnel layer is configured to allow charge to tunnel through by F-N tunneling to change a threshold voltage of the transistor from a first level defining a first logic value to a second level defining a second logic value.
 24. The memory device of claim 23, wherein the tunnel layer and the blocking layer are configured so that a larger change in charge quantity is caused by charge movement through the tunnel layer than is caused by charge movement through the blocking layer.
 25. The memory device of claim 23, wherein the tunnel layer comprises an oxide, and the blocking layer comprises at least one of: 1) a metal oxide and/or a metal oxynitride doped with a group III element and/or a group VB element; and 2) a metal oxide and/or a metal oxynitride doped with a group IV element. 